


Everybody's Playing in the Heart of Gold Band

by heartshapedcookie, heereandqueer



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, UHHH CHRIS AND I MADE OUR OWN FANDOM, also theres dancing in the kitchen in socks bc im a cliche, and of course they meet in a cafe, ethan is gay so like jot that down right now, mentions of pills but its nothing serious, part of this is a sick fic, some fluff about these boyfriends and their struggle to keep normal sleep schedules, these two never sleep, theyre both barely functioning humans but together they're almost a full working person, this was every cliche fanfic trope crammed onto these boys bc i love them and they deserve the best
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-03
Updated: 2018-01-03
Packaged: 2019-02-27 23:19:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13258701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartshapedcookie/pseuds/heartshapedcookie, https://archiveofourown.org/users/heereandqueer/pseuds/heereandqueer
Summary: A small peak into the weird and exhausting lives of Ethan and Ben, with a fluff filter over the lens.





	Everybody's Playing in the Heart of Gold Band

**Author's Note:**

> Chris and I were watching Person of Interest, and jokingly I made a passing comment about "what if Ethan's gay"  
> and here we are.  
> we made our own OC, theyre in love, and we created a fandom for ourselves, i hope you enjoy it

Ethan was waiting in the stupidly long line to get his second coffee of the day. Okay, third. And had to go to the other coffee shop across town, because there’s no way in hell he’s being seen at the same one more than once a day. The mysterious yellow pills in his jacket pocket may help with his anxiety a little, but not enough to get over having to order from the same cup of coffee from the same barista down the street. Nope. That’s not happening today.

The little place was pretty full of people, but the line was short. Most of the kids here were studying, on their laptops, that kind of thing. The on and off rain outside kind of drove people in off of the streets, so it was fairly noisy in the small and dumb hipster cafe. Not that it mattered much to Ethan, he could pick up on any little noise to drown out the chatter around. Sadly (or maybe luckily?) that day some chatter was exactly what he was hyperfocusing on. 

A guy was behind him, talking freely on the phone. What was Ethan supposed to do? He couldn’t  _ not  _ listen in. It’s not like this guy was hiding his conversation, speaking fairly clearly and loudly for being in public.

“ _ Ma _ , no- I can take care of myself-” a small pause in the strangers sentence, listening for the voice on the other end of the line to answer him. “Yes I can! I have a degree in Political Science from Stanford I can remember to eat-”

This time it was Ethan who interrupted his sentence. Not on purpose, but a reflex to mutter under his breath. He needed to work on that really. Side effect of the pills? Maybe. Side effect of just being an asshole sometimes? Bingo.

“That’s not even a real science,” he scoffed, almost chuckling but he had actually realized he had said that out loud. Very loud actually. Loud enough for the person behind him to hear his snarky comment. Fuck.

He spun on the heel of his beaten up shoes, coming face to face (Well, close. This man did have a good few inches on Ethan.) with a gorgeous man. Of -  _ fucking  _ \- course he’s hot.

The apology fell out of Ethan’s mouth faster than he could really think about what he was saying, “Oh my god, I am so sorry! That was so fucking rude- oh shit. I swear I didn’t mean to say that, great I have to go get my coffee and throw myself off the Brooklyn Bridge. Fantastic.”

Half of that he hadn’t meant to say, all the color in his face had drained and his hands were shoved so far into his hoodie pockets that he could pop the seams. He tried not to rustle his jacket too much, learned after a while that he wasn’t the friendliest looking guy ever, especially with a pill bottle shuffling in his jacket.

“Ma? I’ll call you back,” this still unnamed guy slid his phone into his pocket without another word, eyebrows raised a bit at the shorter, disheveled man in front of him. He shoved his hand out a bit, motioning to the now empty space in front of Ethan to order.

So that’s what he did. Spun back around awkwardly, and ordered his coffee. He had been fumbling with his pocket to get his money out but this mysterious man leaned over him and paid for it instead.

“Oh no- you can’t do that,” he tried to argue back. He didn’t need the pity from some guy, who he had just insulted. He wasn’t some flustered teenage girl who needed someone to pay for his drink for him. He had it under control (mostly).

“Too late. Just did.” Grinning, he hand a hand out. “Ben.”

Ben! That was a nice name, it fit him and his Stanford degree and his tall frame and- Ethan realized he still hadn’t introduced himself back, and was now just gawking at him.

“Ethan..” God, even Ethan’s hand looked small when he awkwardly shook this guy- Ben’s hand.

“You know a lot about science then, Ethan?” he waiting  as he ordered and paid for his own drink, turning back to him for an answer. Oh, Ethan’s name sounded really nice coming out of his mouth. He had a really pretty slight accent, not that Ethan was really listening. It’s just, hard for him to not notice? Sound stuff. Whatever.

Of course he knew a lot about science, “Graduated from MIT. So.. I’d say I’m pretty well versed in science, yes.” Ethan hadn’t meant for it to come out as cocky as it did but- who was he kidding yes he did. So he figured he should at least lay it on thick now, “Physics you know, lots of math? I’m a math guy. Still uh- still more science than politics is though.” 

Ethan was hoping and praying that his sneer comments were coming off as more playful than rude. The last thing he wanted to do was actually offend this guy, and was hoping that some banter would ease the way he could hear his heart thumping right in his ears. Really he just wanted to impress Ben, which wasn’t something that happened a lot with Ethan. He was aware he was extremely smart and didn’t feel the need to brag about it too much. It’s always just been what it was, but now he had this feeling he needed to show off.

Ben hummed softly, grabbing both of their coffees, gently pushing Ethan’s into his cold hands. Blindly, Ethan just followed him to the small table by the window, one of the last that was empty. He decided to ignore Ethan’s further comment about his major, and play along right back. If this skinny, but cute, kid wanted to joke then sure Ben would play along.

“MIT hm?? Build any robots lately?” There was a teasing drawl on his comment, lifting the hot to-go cut to his lips to hide his smirk. Now he was just teasing the poor, exhausted looking kid.

“No- wha- shut up.” For once in his entire life, Ethan didn’t have a smart ass comment comeback. He was completely tongue-tied and nervous in front of this guy. What the fuck was going on. Ethan listened to gun shots for a living, and yet this  _ beautiful  _ guy was getting under his skin and making him nervous? Totally not cool.

“So Mr. Fancy Science School, I did pay for your coffee. Pay me back yeah?” His grin was enough to make Ethan want to empty his pockets on the circle table separating them. Maybe he was, in fact, that flustered teenage girl from earlier.

“Shit- right yeah, sorry-”

“Whoa, chill. I don’t mean with money, I wanted your number.”

His number? “My number?”

“Yep. Maybe I can yell at you over the phone about my impressive degree next time?” 

Ethan just stared at him for a second, shocked that this guy wanted  _ his  _ number. Did he want to see him again? What was going on?

But next thing he knew he was scribbling his number on a napkin in his usual chicken scratch. Ben slipped it into the pocket of his button up, shaking his watch a bit to look at the face after he did so.

“I have to run, but I’ll text you.” Ben pushed up out of his seat and oh wow yep Ethan felt very small sitting down while he did so.

“Yeah- right, okay!” The end of Ethan’s sentence made his voice crack a bit like he was some kind of teenage boy.

“See you around Ethan,” Another perfect smile and a wink later Ben was out the door, opening a black umbrella as he jogged across the street and out of sight. 

Hugging his hot coffee to his chest, Ethan slid down in his seat a but, cheeks flushed now. What. The. Fuck.

 

\---

 

“You’re sick.” Ben didn’t phrase it in the form of a question, because it wasn’t. They were both very aware of that the second they woke up that morning ( _ 1 pm _ ).

“I am not sick, I don't get sick.” Ethan was always so extremely stubborn when it came to his health. He wasn’t amazing at remembering to eat regularly, or leave the house for long periods of time, or really anything that anyone over the age of 12 learns to do. (Plus, the two of them were still working on getting him off of those pills, who knew exactly what they had been doing to his body over the last couple of years. It worried Ben, a lot, and especially when Ethan got sick.)

All of this neglect had finally caught up to him as October turned to November and the chill of the city seemed to hang overhead day after day with no break in its pattern. That’s how Ethan ended up with a large blanket wrapped around his shoulders, standing in the kitchen shivering while making coffee.

“No coffee, come on you’re going back to bed.” Ben turned the coffee pot off, trying to tug his boyfriend back to their shared room gently, and praying that for once he’d go easily.

Whining, it was obvious that was not gonna be the case. Of course he was gonna put up some kind of fight. The two stood in the kitchen doorway bickering back and forth quietly for a few minutes. They both knew Ben would get the final word on this, but Ethan couldn’t ever just listen, he always had to put up a fight.

“Benj, I don’t wanna go to bed!” 

“Don’t ‘Benj’ me, you’re taking a nap and that’s final.” and as much as he whined and dragged his feet, by some miracle he got him to crawl into their warm bed and pulled the sheets to his chin.

“I hate you,” Ethan mumbled, the sniffle after it making him sound even less serious than he already was.

“Mhm, get some rest, you brat. You need it.” Ben leaned down, pressing a kiss to his slightly warm forehead, and smiled slightly as he closed his eyes while he did so. He definitely had a fever, but he was hoping that the nap would knock it out. If not, he’d force feed him some dayquil when he got up later.

Without another word he slipped out of the room, beyond happy that he had managed to get him to at least attempt to nap. 

Ethan laid there for a while, switching between starting at the back of his eyelids or staring at the peeling edges of a picture hanging on the wall opposite of him. He was restless. More like his whole body was. Everything was aching too much for him to be able to find a comfortable position to fall asleep in, no matter how much he actually did want to try and nap. He kept getting chills rushing through his body, and he knew the room was warm but his entire body felt cold even under the (stupid, but soft) Stanford sweater he was wearing. It was a couple sizes too big and hung on him, Ethan only standed wearing this specific sweater when he was sick.

He picked at a loose string of the grey sleeve, letting out a breath as the room was far too quiet and decided he wasn’t going to get any sleep in this room. He couldn’t sleep with complete silence, and especially without Ben next to him. There was no way he was gonna lay in bed miserable all day long.

Before even a half an hour had passed Ethan was back out of bed. He rubbed the sleep left in his eyes and stretched a bit to try to get rid of some of the pulling at his muscles. Shuffling to the living room, he started leaning over the back of the couch as Ben was sitting there writing. 

“I napped, I’m better now, I wanna be out here with you.” Ethan had to pause to sniffle, a clear sign he was lying. It’s not that he didn’t want to nap, it’s that he felt worse just laying there. 

“I can feel your fever from here, you need to go back to bed.” He hadn’t bothered to look up from his laptop, fingers still gliding over the keys as he typed away at his document. He had stayed home to work remotely today, having called in the second he noticed Ethan was sick, so he was running a bit behind on his article and was trying to pump out as much of it as he could before Ethan woke up. (Which had been much sooner than he had wanted it to be.)

Moving around the couch, Ethan plopped down beside Ben and his legs tucked under himself as he did so. Were those Ben’s socks? Nevermind, it didn’t matter. This article and getting it finished mattered. He re-situated his laptop so it was resting on the arm of the couch, sitting up straighter as he thought of how to finish the paragraph he was working on.

Ben just continued to write, clicking between about 50 different tabs with his research and sources as he did so. He could feel Ethan scooting closed every few seconds but he had yet to say anything more. Silence filled their apartment other than the tapping of typing and the clicking of the clock on the wall.

Somewhere along the way, Ethan had situated himself so his head was in Ben’s lap. His nose brushing against the sweater covering Ben’s stomach as he moved closer to get comfortable. Ben just continued to type for a bit, and eventually saw his eyes close out of the corner of his eye. 

Absentmindedly, Ben moved one hand off of the keyboard as he searched for a quote he was looking for, running his hand through Ethan’s hair softly. He kept his hand there as he just typed with one hand, racking his hands through his dirty curls over and over again. It was hard to type as fast as he needed to at the moment, but the second he heard soft snores coming from his lap he knew it was worth it. 

So his article was a couple hours late, and he was sure to get a snarky email from his boss for that later. His boyfriend getting some well deserved sleep was way worth it. And after moving Ethan from the couch back to their bed, the two of them spend the rest of the night tucked under their covers together.

(Ben calls out the next day as well, waking up with the same fever and stuffy nose that morning. Good thing his boyfriend is more than happy to take care of him in return.)

 

\---

 

The window was cracked open, chilling out the hot room every time breeze blew through as music played right back out with the wind.

Ethan was sat at the counter, picking at his breakfast but mostly reading as Ben was in the other room doing god knows what. He stopped questioning where he wandered off to a while ago, just facing the fact that Ben sometimes just wandered out of the room without a plan at all.

As the songs switched, their small speaker starting to play  _ Scarlet Begonias _ , Ben came sliding back into the room with his socked feet.

“ _ Babe! _ You gotta dance with me! I love this song!” Ben sounded like a little kid he was so excited, like it was the first time he had ever heard this song before.

Without looking up, Ethan shook his head. “You know I don’t dance, in what world do I dance?” and shoved a corner of his toast into his mouth and set his book down onto the counter. Ben always turned his nose up at his plain buttered toast, but Ethan liked it. It was something easy and quick that he could eat (and make himself) that made Ben happy.

That answer apparently wasn’t good enough for him, because Ben was pulling him out of the chair next. He was holding his arms, trying to get him to move along with him, but Ethan was not making it easy in the least.

“No it’s not happening Benj- also  _ Grateful Dead _ ? Really?” Ethan pulled the toast out of his mouth, looking slightly bored but he was really struggling to keep the smile off of his face.

“Oh I’m sorry, you New Yorker. Should I put on the Beastie Boys? Or wait, maybe some Radiohead? Would that get you dancing?” Ben hadn’t given up on swaying half assed with Ethan, stealing his toast to take a bite of before he tosses it back onto his plate behind him.

“Whoa, that was uncalled for really.” Somehow Ethan just let him sway slightly with him, tuning less in on the windchimes outside the neighbors window or the dog three doors down, and more on the song now. Maybe it was a really good song. It did feel like something Ben would like, felt familiar. It was nice.

“Then dance with me!!!” Ben was beyond whining now, tugging at the old college sweatshirt his boyfriend was wearing even if it was 90 degrees outside. The second he unlatched the window, the second Ethan had grabbed a sweater.

Giving in, Ethan’s arm slid around his neck gently, and he was slightly on his toes because of Ben’s height but it was comfortable. They fit together nicely as they half danced in their small kitchen, socked feet brushing every couple of seconds because neither of them were too worried about stepping on the others feet. Ethan’s fingers twisted into the curls sticking out at Ben’s neck, twirling them around his finger a little. He loved to play with his hair, it was always so soft, and the repeated movement of it was comforting to them both.

Ben was humming along to the song in his ear, fingertips of one hand running up and down his spine in a comforting motion. He was really really happy to have someone he could dance in the kitchen with on a hot Saturday morning, arguing music tastes and toast toppings with.

“I love you,” Ethan tilted his head up so the tip of his nose bumped against the underside of Ben’s jaw, leaving a quick, warm kiss on a spot of his neck. 

“Mm,” Ben’s face broke out into a small smile, pulling him closer as the song faded into another one that neither of them recognized but that didn’t stop their dancing, even if it no longer fit with the music around them. “I love you too.” He absolutely did love Ethan. More than anything in the world, more than his job, more than the city, more than the music playing around them. 

Sometimes Ben missed his hometown, his childhood home. He missed the openness of California and how wide the sky seemed to feel compared to the rest of the country, and his family, the familiarity of it all and everyone around him. Those times of feeling homesick got less and less painful, and further apart after he met Ethan. 

He found a new sense of home, in this shitty apartment, with his dream job and nerdy boyfriend. He found the openness of New York, he made himself a new family out East, and there was nothing unfamiliar about Ethan in his arms. It had to be the most welcoming thing he had ever had the pleasure of feeling. 

He couldn’t possibly get any happier than he already was. Every morning he woke up next to his man and expected it to be a dream like he was in some kind of Disney movie. Sure their lives weren’t perfect, and they were and are working through a lot. But they’re together, and they’re happy. They have each other, and that’s all that mattered.

That, and this moment in their kitchen. That’s all that mattered to them. That’s all that would ever matter to him, as long as he had Ethan here with him and in his arms. As long as they were safe and happy, and together. It’s all Ben could have ever hoped for, and he wouldn’t give it up for anything in the world, not even for a second. 

**Author's Note:**

> "FoUR coPs AlmOsT SHoT mE" -> @connormurphweed


End file.
